Tourism, Italians are not separated from Albania, grew by 7.1% in January-April, Kosovo "falls"

2025-06-02 08:15:00, Sociale CNA

Tourism, Italians are not separated from Albania, grew by 7.1% in January-April,

Albania's tourism industry seems to be holding back the Italians, who remain the group with the most stable growth, while in terms of weight they are second only to Kosovo.

Official data from the Institute of Statistics show that in January-April 2025, tourists from Italy increased by 7.1 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, when they recorded over 281 thousand arrivals.

This trend is expected to remain similar in the future, linking this to the proximity of the two countries but also to easy access through several forms of transportation.

Italians are increasingly preferring our country for weekend tourism, while traditionally health tourism and business relations have also been present. They are the second largest group of tourists coming to Albania, with 12.3% of the total.

Kosovo, which holds the first place in terms of weight, with 34% of the total, recorded a total of around 834 thousand entries by the end of April, with a decrease of 6.7 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

When it seemed that Kosovo was "returning" to its normality after 2024 when the entry of Kosovo Albanians suffered fluctuations due to visa liberalization, it seems that spring has repeated the same trick.

Specifically, March and April of this year have marked a decline compared to March and April of the previous year. Kosovo is a market that, thanks to visa liberalization, is already exploring other European Union countries as weekend destinations, while even during the summer of last year there was a growing interest in countries like Greece.

In the first four months of this year, a good portion of visitors are increasing from various countries, mainly Europe, a trend that has also been embraced by tour operators.

Specifically, arrivals from Germany increased by 41.2 percent, from France by 39.9 percent, Switzerland by 20 percent, and Austria by 48 percent. Arrivals from countries like China and India also increased, although their numbers are modest.

In total, 2.44 million foreigners entered our country by the end of April, an increase of 5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

Tour operators expect that 2025 will also see positive performance in the sector, basing this on the signals given by the increasing number of guaranteed contracts, demands from new markets, and the ongoing international promotion in foreign media.

In general, tour operators expect this year to see an increase of between 10-15 percent. The organized groups with interest in Albania continue to be Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, Slovaks, and Spaniards, while those who are coming en masse as individuals are Italians but also visitors from Western Europe./ Monitor Magazine